


Little Birds in Little Cages

by Goblinbrigade



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Adopted Sibling incest is still incest guys, Corrin has some neat dragon things going on with him, Eventual Happy End?, Eventual Smut, Everyone in Nohr is sad, Friends to lovers to friends again, Garon is abusive, I'm not sure yet, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Male My Unit | Kamui | Corrin, Pining, Pining so much youre a goddamn pine tree, Sibling Incest, Slow Burn, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, Unrequited Crush, and gay but mostly sad, because I said so, because then you gotta go lust after a man that is technically your brother, one of these days ill give silas more love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:21:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22084807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goblinbrigade/pseuds/Goblinbrigade
Summary: Once upon a time there was a Little Prince in a locked up keep in a dark Kingdom to the west. He was a pretty little thing, a child who was like the sun despite the sad landscape he was kept in. He lit up the lives of those around him with that smile of his, creating happiness and joy where there otherwise was none.But like all lights in the dark, dark kingdom, it had to be snuffed out one way or another.
Relationships: Marx | Xander/My Unit | Kamui | Corrin, My Unit | Kamui | Corrin/Silas
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Little Birds in Little Cages

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably gonna be very problematic for so many reasons so please heed the tags folks, I cannot stress this enough.
> 
> Anyway, I love Xander and while I *could* have made something fluffy with him in it instead I'm making something angsty. That's just how I be, I guess.

“Xander are you awake?” The door to his quarters crept open, the sparse light of a candle illuminating the soft black hair of the young man in yellows and oranges. As Xander cracked open an eye with a soft groan, his expression softened at the terrified expression on the boy’s face.

“Little Prince?” He murmured, rubbing at his eyes with a long yawn. The small boy padded closer, his hands shaking in the dark and feet unsteady. Xander felt his expression soften, taking the candle from his brother and placing it on the beside table. The little sniffles coming from the young boy brought his attention to the tears prickling at Corrin’s eyes, the way his face was scrunched up into a visage of pain and fear. Xander clicked his tongue softly and picked the boy up into his arms, “More nightmares?”

Corrin nodded, burying his face into Xander’s warm nightshirt with a hiccup. With long slender hands gently stroking through the boy’s soft hair, Xander placed him back down on the bed. He wiped away the tears, and dried his brother’s face, before bringing him back into an embrace. Nuzzling into the older boy’s chest, the young Corrin held onto his brother with all his might for fear of being without such comfort. “Please don’t leave,” He said in that squeaky voice of his, a little hoarse from his own tears.

“I won’t, I promise I won’t,” Xander whispered into his hair, “Little Prince…” His words were almost cautious, the question halting halfway in his throat. He gulped, pressed a kiss to the top of his brother’s head, then tried again, “Was it the same dream as last time?” And the time before that, his mind helpfully supplied.

A nod was all he got in response, and then another sob wracked the small body of the young boy in his arms. Xander didn’t probe further, too engrossed in calming the small bundle back down. He knew he should send the boy back to his room; get a servant to deal with the little man’s fears, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. They were brothers regardless of blood, and he cared enough about him, and the rest of his half-siblings, to dissuade his fears without the aid of a servant. Xander knew if his father caught wind of this, he would no doubt beat the little boy and scold him for allowing such weakness, but still…

Xander would not allow it.

Hugging Corrin closer, Xander simply listened to the boy hiccup and cry. His nightshirt was getting wet with the tears, but he was content to suffer for the time being, too afraid was he that if he let his little brother go for even a moment the dreams would all come back again. If nothing else, he would protect the boy from what harm he could.

It was the least he could do.

Reluctantly parting for only a moment to blow the candle out on the bedside table, Xander returned to the boy post-haste, now shrouded in the light of the moon flooding the bedchambers. Corrin wrapped his small arms around Xander’s neck and buried his face into his chest. The boy sighed against the soft fabric, then relaxed against the gentle caresses up and down his back. It was somewhat of a metronome, even to Xander, lulling him to sleep with such a simple motion.

When he heard the tell-tale signs of a slumbering little boy—the slow breaths, the gentle snoring—Xander felt himself relax. Bringing the covers up over his young brother’s shoulders, he buried his face into the soft bed of hair and engulfed Corrin in his arms. He should have sent the boy away, he scolded himself, but it was simply impossible to do such a thing. They were brothers; was it truly so inconceivable to think that they should care for one another?

A thought for another time, Xander decided, forcing his eyes closed. Before long he, too, succumbed to the embrace of the darkness.

Xander awoke early as he always did, leaving his brother to sleep while he prepared for the day. He quietly instructed a servant to bring a clean set of clothing from Corrin’s room, hoping the news would not reach his father’s ears, before he, finally, decided it was time to wake the slumbering little prince.

“Little Prince,” Xander murmured, gentle as he shook the boy’s shoulder to rouse him. He received a small moan of irritation from the boy, and then a bleary-eyed pout which was cuter than it was intimidating. “Now, now, Little Prince,” he found a grin, albeit a small one, taking the time to button up his vest. He’d considered his armour earlier in the morning, but ultimately elected not to wear it for the time being; weaponry and armour at the breakfast table was quite rude, after all, and it would do him no good to set a bad example for his younger siblings. “Come now, we must get you ready. Or else father will be quite mad.”

Corrin paled, “Father’s scary when he’s mad,” He said softly, looking away from Xander as if to hide the fear in his eyes. The elder Prince bit at his bottom lip, reaching out to his Little Prince before thinking better of it. He already coddled the boy enough as it was. Dropping his hand back down to his side, he struggled to find the right words to say. Because yes, King Garon was a terrifying sight when he was in a rage and though often Xander tried his best to bear the brunt of his wrath, he couldn’t be there to protect his siblings at all times.

The bruises that blossomed on the pale skin of Corrin’s arms were proof enough of that.

“I’ll always protect you,” Xander returned, as if he had the right to promise such a thing. When his little brother sniffled a little, he gently placed his hand on the boy’s head and stroked through his hair. As always, it was soft and fluffy like the pelt of a kitten. And then he had the audacity to say, “I promise.”

In that moment, Xander knew what hating himself felt like.

“But you’re leaving in a week,” Corrin said miserably, taking that hand and hugging it to his chest as if to will Xander to stay. But they both knew that he could not. “How can you protect me from so far away?”

“I’ll always be here with you,” Xander, not one who was used to such flowery words, stammered as he pressed his hand over his brother’s heart, “In here.” All he received for the effort was another pout.

“That’s not good enough!” Corrin whined, all but throwing himself into the arms of his older brother just to keep him there. Were they in polite company, such a display would be unthinkable, but here, in the privacy of Xander’s quarters… it only seemed natural for a little boy to crave the company of his sibling. “I want to spent time with you, and Camilla, and Leo! I… I want…”

“Maybe in another time,” Xander said gently, pulling Corrin forward towards the edge of the bed. He glanced out the window—dreary as always—but it was far too late for his brother to take a bath before breakfast. “Come, Little Prince, let me help you dress.”

“That’s the servant’s job,” Came the childish reply, but Xander simply tutted and held up the finery for the boy to slip into. Reluctantly, Corrin obeyed his big brother, and before long he was the very model of what a young Prince should be. Cute, quiet. Before the two slipped out of Xander’s room, Corrin took his hand and gave it a squeeze. Xander smile.

+

“Xander, dear,” Camilla placed down her fork with a practiced precision that he knew didn’t come naturally to her. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her lips curling into a little smile as she stared her brother right in the eye. Xander winced at the look, knowing what was to come; his sister was nothing if not predictable, and she’d been bothering him about it for weeks now. Ah, the horrors that come from little sisters. “Do you not think it time you cleaned yourself up a little bit, tried to make yourself presentable for your future wife?”

Leo gagged on his own food; Corrin stifled his giggles.

“I don’t have a future wife,” Xander said drily, pointedly shoving some food into his mouth. Camilla rolled her eyes and smiled playfully.

“Not with those manners you don’t,” Camilla scolded, as if she were his mother and not the nosy thirteen year old she was. “You are fifteen, you know, almost a man,”

Xander grimaced, but somehow managed to wrestle his lips into something resembling a smile, “Yes, sister, and you are almost a lady. Yet you don’t see me pushing you to find a husband. That will come in time.” Camilla flushed before shoving her breakfast into her mouth as if to choke back her pout. His lips twitched upwards into a smirk, skilfully hiding the racing thoughts his sister’s words had brought up in him.

Xander had been lucky so far that his father had seemed uninterested in finding spouses for his children, but he couldn’t for certain say that would never be the case, or that he had simply been keeping any designs he had from them. The very thought sent a shiver down his spine, but Xander shook his head to clear it of all thoughts.

No, it would do him no good to consider such things. He finished his meal in silence, watching over his siblings with worry just barely broiling below the surface of his calm façade.

+

From the window of his room in the tower that night, little Prince Corrin watched his brother train in the courtyard. His form seemed flawless to the boy, who saw no fault in the way Xander mercilessly sliced at the various training dummies set up mostly for Corrin’s own sake. Even from so high up, he could hear his brother’s grunts and shouts of exertion, the breath his swings forced from his lungs as his blade sliced through the hemp sacks and sent all the stuffing spilling out.

Before morning, Corrin knew, the servants would have picked it back up and repaired those that could be, or completely replaced those that couldn’t. Which, Corrin realised, were most of them.

Even with so many training dummies destroyed beyond comprehension, Xander continued, simply moving onto the next as if each flimsy thing was a soldier in an invading army. To the young Corrin, there seemed nothing better than watching his older brother sweat and train until he couldn’t any longer. A part of him found it beautiful, in a morbid way, watching the man he looked up to most completely lose himself to the violence.

Like a rabid dog, some dark hole in his mind supplied.

It was only when Xander dropped his blade, physically unable to hold it any longer, did he stop. Even from his perch Corrin could see his usually immaculate hair was in a mess, stuck to his face with sweat and dirt, and his loose shirt was drenched.

Corrin met Xander at his door, and he was greeted with a tired-eyed young man who didn’t appear to have the energy he’d had even the day prior. His boots dragged across the tiles, his shoulders slumped, and his hands seemed clumsy as they struggled to undo the buttons of his undershirt. “I can help,” Corrin said eagerly, all but pulling his elder brother to the bed to help in the only way he knew how.

Xander’s shirt fell from his shoulders as Corrin finished up with the final button, revealing the muscle and strength he’d garnered from all the training he’d been thrust into over the years. What was that reasoning again? ‘A King should know how to protect his people’?

Even despite how exhausted he was, it was clear he maintained himself impeccably, even when he wasn’t at the keep—which was a growing occurrence with each passing year.

And yet, as Xander stood to go rifle through his drawers for some sleepwear, Corrin let out a little whine. His eyes went wide at the rough-looking bruise blossomed an ugly purple on his older brother’s shoulder. He hadn’t noticed it before, but Xander had been favouring his other arm, and yet Corrin had just assumed it was due to the training but now…

“Did father do that?” Corrin asked, unable to look away from the dark colours mottling his brother’s fair skin.

Xander flinched, winced, then pulled an old shirt from out of his dresser. “No,” He lied, glad that his back was to the young boy for fear he wouldn’t be able to lie to those wide, doubtlessly tear-filled eyes. Slipping his shirt on, he let out a weary sight, “No, Little Prince, just a… mishap in training.”

Corrin knew it was a lie, but simply gnawed on the inside of his cheek instead of saying anything. It was always better to simply stay quiet, he’d decided, even when something was wrong. Turning back to the boy, Xander buttoned up his shirt before making a motion for Corrin to leave.

“Go on Little Prince, you’ll get in trouble if you’re not found in bed soon,” And yet, even despite his brother’s gentle pushing, Corrin did not budge, instead simply kicking his feet off the side of the bed.

“Can I, um,” Corrin hesitated, tugging at a stray lock of black hair as if it would hide his imploring gaze from his older brother, “Can I sleep here again tonight?”

Xander opened his mouth as if to tell his brother to go back to bed, then snapped it shut again, unable to go through with it. Instead he glanced away as if unsure. Finally, after a few moments of thought, the older boy crumbled, “Sure, Little Prince.”

**Author's Note:**

> While I'm thinking about it, while this does start with the brothers at younger ages, there will be nothing underage in this story. At all.


End file.
